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Modeling an Urban Heat Island during Extreme Frost in Moscow in January 2017

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Abstract—

Using the example of an analysis of an extreme lowering of temperature in Moscow in January 2017, the horizontal and vertical extent of the urban heat island against the background of a strong stable stratification of the atmospheric boundary layer is studied. The possibilities of measuring and monitoring the vertical structure of the atmosphere using ground-based remote sensing are investigated. The capabilities of the mesoscale model WRF, adapted for a detailed description of mixing processes in the atmospheric boundary layer, in reproducing the spatial dynamics of the temperature anomaly are demonstrated. The numerical estimates of the amplitude and vertical extent of the urban heat island are compared with the measurement accuracy and the total errors of the numerical predictions. A comparison of measurement data and numerical simulation results on the WRF model, using the example of a winter urban heat island in January 2017, showed that mesoscale synoptic models so far only capture the main features of the urban heat island. However, deviations between model and observed temperature fields can reach 5°C.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to D.D. Kuznetsov and V.S. Lyulyukin for providing the observational data.

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, projects nos. 18-08-00074, 19-05-00028 and 18-05-60126.

The work of M. Varentsov on the analysis of the spatial structure of the heat island according to surface observations was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 17-77-20070.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Moscow State University, 119234, Moscow, Russia

    V. P. Yushkov, M. I. Varentsov, G. A. Kurbatov & I. A. Repina

  2. Nuclear Safety Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 115191, Moscow, Russia

    M. M. Kurbatova

  3. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119017, Moscow, Russia

    M. I. Varentsov, I. A. Repina, A. Yu. Artamonov & M. A. Kallistratova

  4. Mosekomonitoring, 119019, Moscow, Russia

    E. A. Lezina

  5. Central Aerological Observatory, 141700, Dolgoprudny, Russia

    E. A. Miller

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  1. V. P. Yushkov
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  2. M. M. Kurbatova
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  3. M. I. Varentsov
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  4. E. A. Lezina
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  6. E. A. Miller
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  8. A. Yu. Artamonov
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  9. M. A. Kallistratova
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Correspondence to I. A. Repina.

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Translated by V. Selikhanovich

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Yushkov, V.P., Kurbatova, M.M., Varentsov, M.I. et al. Modeling an Urban Heat Island during Extreme Frost in Moscow in January 2017. Izv. Atmos. Ocean. Phys. 55, 389–406 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001433819050128

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